Sheet-metal door.



Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

y 6 3 m 1W 0 51 W M 1 j B 4 M g M f 5 L. 4% 9 2 g 8 ll 6 w JOHN F. RUTH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SHEET-METAL DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

Application filed January 22, 1912. Serial No. 672,737.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. RUTH, a citizen of the United States, and resident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet- Metal Doors, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to improvements in sheet metal doors, and the object of my in vention is to construct a door consisting of a number of parts, each part having one or more of its margins shaped by dies, or otherwise, whereby it may be secured to an adjoining part by moving the said formed margins lengthwise over each other to produce a locked joint of a maximum strength, said formed margins after assembled forming a complete joint which needs no after shaping.

With the above purposes in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows in elevation a door constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse, sectional elevation taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1 illustrating the bottom rail, a molding and a portion of a panel; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 showing a stile, a molding and a section of panel; and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan taken on the line 1-4: of Fig. 1 and shows a stile and a portion of the bottom rail.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings: 1 and 2 designate the sheet metallic face plates of the panel, and 3 a filler between said plates.

4-4 designates the stiles, each of which consists, in cross section, of a single piece of sheet metal constituting the two faces 5 and one end 6 of the stile. At each free end of the face members 5 there is a groove 7 formed by turning the end of the material to parallel the body portion and a flange 8 formed by turning the material at right angles to the body portion and to said groove.

99 designates the top and bottom rails, the face members 10 of which are of separate pieces, each piece having at its end margin a groove 11 and a flange 12 identically like the groove 7 and flange 8 of the stile members described. For uniting the uppermost margins of the top rail members and the lowermost margins of the bottom rail members I employ plates 13 at each side margin of which there is a right angled flange 14 arranged to be seated in the groove 11 and a groove 15 formed by bending the material to parallel the body of the plate to embrace the flanges 12. For uniting the lowermost margins of the side members of the top rail and the uppermost margins of the side members of the bottom rail I employ keys 16 at each side margin of which there is a groove 17 paralleling the body of the key and a flange 18 at right angles to the body of the key and to the grooves 17 which flanges occupy the grooves 11 in the side members 10.

19 designates a key identically like the key 16, which unites the free ends ofthe stiles and flanges 20 thereof, occupying the grooves 7 in the stile members and the flanges 8 of the stile members occupying the grooves 21 in the key 19. The grooves 17 in the key 16 and the grooves 21 in the key 19 are 'of sufficient widths to receive the flanges 12 and 8 and also the flanges 22 of the moldin 23. The body portions of the keys 16 an 19 are spaced apart from the materials of the members 10 and 5 which form the grooves 11 and 7 so that the portions 24 of the moldings may be held between the keys 16 and 19 and the members 10 and 5. Each of the molding members 23 is provided with a longitudinal recess 25 in order to receive and embrace the margins of the panel. The ends of the top and bottom rails 9 are each provided with flanges 26 which operate in a manner identical with the flanges 22 of the moldings, but in order that the faces of the rails may be flush with the faces of the stiles each of the ends of the rails has a portion 27 paralleling the flanges 26 of lengths sufficient to extend the face of the rail members flush with the face of the stiles.

In constructing a door according to my invention the individual parts are shaped as described in the specification and as shown in the drawing, and said parts are assembled by endwise movements over each other which are accomplished by power presses for the reason that it requires a considerable efl'ort to assemble the parts for the reason that the formations of the flanges and grooves are accurately calculated so that there will be no waste of material and. no

possible chances for movements of the parts relative to each other after assembling. In order to prevent lengthwise movements of the parts relative to each other I resort to the common expedient of welding-which is .spot welding. I

While I have shown and described a sheetmetal door I do not wish to be underpreferablv done in the manner known as stood as limiting myself to the use of such seem, as are shown, upon the doors only,

IV as it is obvious that any sheet metal struct'ur having more than one part may be made employing a seam for uniting the two parts as contemplated by my invention.

vI claim: i y

1. In a sheet metal structure, spaced members having lateral flanges at their ends, a second pair of spaced members havflange .for engagement in said outside grooves to prevent spreading of the spaced members and grooves to surround said abutting flanges and prevent separation of the first and second mentioned pairs of members.

- 2. In a sheet metal structure, a pair of spaced elements of a single member having at their ends a lateral flange and outside the flange a groove, a second pair of continuous groove at each edge to surround said abuttingbflanges.

3. In com ination with a single sheet metal element having-two laterall spaced ends there being a channel forms in each of said ends and a flange at each end at right angles to said channels, a second sheet metal element having spaced ends and there being a flange at each of said ends parallel ing the flanges of the first mentioned element and a single element grooved along its side margins to embrace both flanges of both of said sheet metal elements said last mentioned single element having a flange at each of its side margins at right angles to its grooves for insertion in the grooves of the said first mentioned element whereby to lock the first and second elements against relative movements either toward or away from each other as well as to lock the said elements against relative movements at their elilrds to hold them in fixed spaced relations 1p.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN nnurn.

Witnesses:

E. L. WALLAon, N. G. BUTLER. 

